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Have the Red Sox figured out the secret to beating Tampa Bay?

If the Red Sox were to possess a mission statement this season, it would most likely include something involving the separation between 2011 and '12. Well, if that's the case, the last two days have been mission accomplished for Bobby Valentine's crew.

But this isn't just about two wins. This is about finding a solution to a most pressing problem -- how to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.

In '11, the Red Sox not only won just six of their 18 meetings with the Rays, but it was how they came to that misery that truly hit home. Joe Maddon's pitchers held the Sox to just a .189 batting average and .616 OPS, with Kevin Youkilis (.184), David Ortiz (.180), Adrian Gonzalez (.131) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.071) all hitting under .200.

A change needed to be made.

So, the Red Sox got together prior to the three-game series and tried to reinforce a strategy: Don't let the Rays' pitchers play their usual game. Take pitches. Get the starters out of the game. Make Tampa Bay's hurlers feel uncomfortable living life in deep counts. And it worked.

"Those guys have great stuff, but the more you make them throw the ball over the middle of the plate, or on the plate, if makes their job even more difficult," explained Red Sox hitting coach Dave Magadan.

The Red Sox have hit .419 with a 1.251 OPS in the past two games, taking 4.16 pitches per plate appearance. In their 13-5 win over the Rays Saturday, Sox hitters swung at the first pitch just five times in 43 plate appearances. What it did in the series' second game, as was the case in the first, was get the starter out of the game well before the Rays had hoped.

Tampa Bay relievers have pitched just as many innings (8) as its starters during the current series. And with the dynamic has come the reminder why David Price and Jeremy Hellickson aren't in the bullpen, with Rays' relief pitchers allowing 17 runs and 20 hits over the past two days.

"We talked about it going into the series," Magadan said. "That's kind of something we've been missing for six games is the approach. Not being afraid to keep the line moving. Not feeling like you're the guy who has to get the big hit. Have a good at-bat. Have a good approach. Swing at strikes. Don't panic when you swing at Strike One. Continue to grind out the at-bats. You have to do that against good pitchers. No matter who it is you have to force them to make pitches. If they're only having to make one pitch to get you out in every at-bat, you make a lot of mediocre pitchers better when you're doing that. Even the great pitchers, when they have to make two or three good pitches each at-bat to get you out, it's hard to repeat that inning after inning, batter after batter. And that's what we've done the last couple of nights."

In a nutshell, this has come down to a battle of wills. Tampa Bay makes no secret of how they prefer to approach opposing pitchers -- throw fastballs on the plate out of the gate, either getting ahead or putting the ball in play with one of the American League's best defenses at the ready.

"A lot of it has to do with our defense and the wanting our pitchers to throw strikes and use their fastball," Rays manager Joe Maddon said during spring training. "It's not a big secret. I think our pitchers are willing to permit the other team to put the ball in play because they think they're going to catch it."

This time, the Red Sox hitters weren't going to take the bait, even though executing such discipline proved challenging in the early going.

"It's tough when you get down 4-0 because you're thinking the chances are it's going to be Strike One and Strike Two," said Red Sox outfielder Cody Ross, referring to the early hole the Red Sox found themselves in after the Rays' four-run first inning Saturday. "It's tough to hit like that when you're down behind in the count, down four runs. But we stuck with it. We got some big walks and big hits."

"Tampa's pitchers are aggressive early with the first pitch, then they nibble," said Gonzalez, who owned three of the five at-bats that saw the Red Sox offer at the first pitch Saturday. "But they like to get ahead and then get the hitter to chase. They're pretty good at that because they have good command, and they can get you in a swing-early mentality. We've done a great job in the first two games we aren't buying into what they're trying to do."

After '11, in which Tampa Bay starters averaged 6.8 innings against the Red Sox while compiling a 2.83 ERA, the last two games have been an enormous step in the right direction for a Sox team desperate to find an early identity. Only three times in 18 starts did Rays starting pitchers last five innings or less against the Red Sox, which is exactly what transpired in each of their first two meetings this time around.

And when you not only manage to force Tampa Bay pitchers to throw 370 pitches in two games, but bang out 31 hits, 15 runs and a five-home-run game, the plan would appear to be working.

"I think the approach got us the five home runs," Magadan said. "When you're up there making outs on the first two pitches of the at-bats, on pitcher's pitches off the plate, they stick their chest out and it gives them confidence to keep going, make pitches. Now you've got batter, after batter, after batter forcing him to throw the ball over the plate, it's frustrating for a pitcher. And when they get frustrated they make pitches they don't want to make, or throwing to locations they don't want to throw. It happens to the best.

"Any pitcher will tell you if you have a lineup that is going to swing at strikes, and not afraid to get behind in the count, and not afraid to hit with two strikes, it's hard to pitch to those kind of teams."

Greg and Chris talk with Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston in hour 2 of NFL Sunday to discuss a variety of offseason happenings with the Pats and throughout the league. Greg and Chris also get into the NFL Draft and where Mariota and Winston will go.

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Flannery joins Mut to break down the Isaiah Thomas trade to Boston and what it means for the Celtics this season and in the future. Paul also chats with Mut about the other deals that happened at the NBA's trading deadline

Mut, Tomase, and Bradford kick things off talking about Shane Victorino taking offense to people reading into some comments he made about trading for Cole Hamels. They also discuss Blake Swihart and how soon he could be up if Christian Vazquez starts the season on the DL.

Joe Kelly joined the Hot Stove show where he talked about being ready for his next spring training start after a biceps ailment forced him out of his last outing, he talks about his NCAA brackets and how teammate Wade Miley has a perfect bracket still.

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It's a big hour #2 for the Sunday Skate dudes - they talk about the B's defenseman and what the future looks like at that position, with both moves the team can make and younger guys in the AHL. They also get into the Bruins philosophy on bringing guys up and sending them back down and how players deal with that. Finally, the boys are joined by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli to discuss EVERYTHING.

The Sunday Skate crew gets the show going discussing the Bruins big, impressive victory over the NY Rangers yesterday. What can you take from that game? According to LB - Lyndon Byers - who called the guys from the road, not a lot. LB drops a dime on what was going on with the Rangers yesterday. DJ and Joe discuss Claude's lines and groupings and the importance of Ryan Spooner. They also get into Lucic, his contributions this year and if he can turn things around.

With the Wells report seemingly wrapping up (we hope), Tim and Lou got to talking about possible fines and punishments the Patriots must face. It's possible that the Patriots will face a small fine, but should they take that laying down? The conversation brings out a little passion from BOTH sides.